Explore an index of 38,107 Lancashire wills proved at the Archdeaconry of Richmond. Reveal if your ancestor’s probate papers have survived through the centuries. The index will give you details about the type of material available, the probate year, your ancestor’s occupation and residence.

Each record includes an image of the index and an individual transcript for the entry. The amount of detail in each record can vary but most will include:

Transcript

Name

Status or occupation

Event date

Deanery

County

Volume number

Image

Deanery – The different deaneries are abbreviated at the end of the description as A,F,K or L. The deaneries included are Amounderness, Furness, Kendal and Lonsdale.

Additional notes – Some entries will include more detail about the will. If the entry states ‘Supra,’ this indicates a will where the deceased's estate was valued at over £40. If the entry states ‘Infra,’ this indicates a will where the deceased's estate was valued at less than £40.

Type of document – The document type is abbreviated

Types of documents

Inv- Inventory, and is only inserted where no will or administration survives. Where there is a will, the inventory or document is not named.

Admon - Administration bond but no will

Acct - Account given by executors or administrators

MS – Manuscript

Tuon or Curon Bond – In other probate material these can be found as Tuition Bond or Curation Bond. Both bonds refer to a guardianship for a testator’s young children. The testator may have set aside funds for the child’s education.

Locating the original documents

To obtain copies contact Lancashire Archives by letter, fax or e-mail, giving full details and references. Exact references can be located by searching their online catalogue using the information found within this index. The information needed includes: testator’s name, place or residence, date of will and deanery.

The British Library holds abstracts or summaries of wills from 1531-1652 proved in the Archdeaconry of Richmond (mainly deanery of Amounderness). These are listed in the index in Italics; sadly the original wills relating to these abstracts did not survived.

Discover more about these records

The wills index was published in four volumes by the Lancashire & Cheshire Record Society from 1884 until 1913. The four volumes include:

Volume 10 - Index to wills proved in the western deaneries of the Archdeaconry of Richmond 1457-1680, plus index to abstracts of wills from 1531-1652 proved in the Archdeaconry of Richmond (mainly in the deanery of Amounderness), where the original wills no longer survive. The index was originally published in 1884.

Volume 13 - The Lancashire wills proved within the Archdeaconry of Richmond from 1681 to 1748 was printed in 1886 and edited by Lieutenant Colonel Henry Fishwick, F.S.A. The introduction repeats the details found in Volume X.

Volume 23 - A list of the Lancashire wills proved within the Archdeaconry of Richmond, from 1748 to 1792 and a list of the wills provided in the Peculiar of Halton from 1615 to 1792 was published in 1891 and edited by Lieutenant Colonel Henry Fishwick, F.S.A.

Volume 66 – A list of the Lancashire wills proved within the Archdeaconry of Richmond from 1793 to 1812 and a list of the wills proved in the Peculiar of Halton from 1793 to 1812 was printed in 1913 and edited by Lieutenant Colonel Henry Fishwick, F.S.A.

Places included

The Archdeaconry of Richmond comprised that part of Lancashire north of the River Ribble, and parts of Cumberland, Westmorland and Yorkshire. It was further subdivided into deaneries. Boroughbridge, Catterick and Richmond (the eastern deaneries). The western deaneries, which are either wholly or partly in Lancashire, comprise Amounderness, Copeland, Furness, Kendal and Lonsdale. It is wills from these western deaneries, which are indexed here.